Sunday, November 2, 2014

12. Tech Topics - Open Forum

You asked for it!  Here it is!

Blog topic this week:  Yours!

Share a tech tip, topic, idea, controversy, revelation, problem, trend or... 

whatever you feel is relevant to technology today 



Work alone or in a small group
All members contribute for credit.  You decide how.  

Be sure your topic is supported by facts 
and 
you all share your own spin on the content

Let's see your ideas...

57 comments:

  1. IBM TrueNorth:

    The IBM TrueNorth is a special project that IBM has been developing recently. With a very specially designed web of transistors, it effectively simulates 1 million "neurons" of the human brain. The chip is about the size of a regular CPU, 4096 cores, and best of all, it only consumes 70 milliwatts to run.
    While the chip is able to simulate a fraction of the human brain, that fraction is very small. This chip would only represent about one hundred MILLIONTH the processing power of the human brain, which has about 100 trillion individual neurons. That said, if IBM made a computer that contained 100 million IBM TrueNorth chips, the computer would consume about 7 megawatts. The human brain uses 20 watts. Not very cost-effective right now, but a few years down the line, a version of the chip that can effectively simulate the human brain may become reality.

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  2. The technological singularity....it's coming.

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  3. NFC Payments:

    With the release of Apple Pay, and the possible uproar of Google wallet as well, NCF payment is surely the next big thing. For those who don’t know, NFC (Near Field Communication) allows for two devices within range of each other to exchange data with the use of an NFC chip. With NFC Payments, consumers will be allowed to use their phone to pay for products, instead of their credit card. Both Apple Pay and Google Wallet let you plug you credit cards into your phone and tap them on payment checkouts to pay for your goods. With convenience, also comes security, as NFC payment technology is protected by a tamper-proof digital signature. Surely in the future, all businesses will allow customers to use NFC with their card readers for a reliable payment method.

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  4. Technology Trend: Smart watches will become ' Smarter '

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    1. I learn the concept of smart watches still appears to be one on Which people are highly divided. News Republic consumers worldwide appear to be evenly split to desire to wear one of these watches. The software of this watch is a completly mobile version of andriod's operating system's, will be incorporated in this smart watch but also will be offered by various big brands. These watches will do the usually text and email but as well Health and fitness will be in this. Apple is also rummor to be annocing its "iWatch" will run The system IOS and Phone calls, Emails, Internet Browsing and texting. As well other Rumors say about this Smart watch it will also be controlled by out voice, so like voice controlled.
      < This information was found on this site: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/21/the-top-7-technology-trends-dominating-2014/>
      < Word Count: 149 words >

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    2. But my Own Opinion about Smart Watches is since its like a phone, i would love to have one and I will able have a phone that i will keep it on my wrist all the time, and I will never lose it or break it if falls but i would be on my arm. Plus hehe i can be on it during class and noone will ever beileve its a phone since it looks like a watch.

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    3. Do want http://i.imgur.com/av1X7dd.jpg

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  5. Microsoft has stopped the retail sale of both Windows 7 and 8 to make way for newer versions of their software, as Windows 10 (sorry Windows 9) is planned for late 2015.
    As of October 31st, you could no longer buy any versions of Windows 7, and now Windows 8 is no longer being sold.
    "Microsoft's determination to distance itself from the original form of Windows 8" Windows 8 was not a popular operating system, as it brushed away many of the familiar elements of the desktop system.

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    1. This is interesting as Windows 7 and 8 are somewhat new. Windows 7 has always been my favorite OS, but I have no experience with 8. I am hoping the new Windows 10 will be able to live up to passed operating systems.
      If Windows 10 is too much of a change, people will probably refrain from buying it. They need to make the interface similar to 7, but make it have extra and convenient features that make it easier to use.
      Now that 7 is gone from the market, it will be hard to purchase it once Windows 10. If 10 sucks, then people will have to go the extra mile just to get their OS back.

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    2. I'm a PC, and Windows 7 was my idea.

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    3. Im a Window, and idea 7 was my PC.

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  6. Fully operational Apple computer that company co-founder Steve Jobs sold out his parents garage in 1976 for $600, will hit the auction block in December where it is expected to fetch more than half a million dollars.

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    1. Provide FACTS about a RELEVANT tech topic TODAY. Then discuss your opinion about it. Do over please

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    3. Basis, the Intel-owned maker of a health-tracking watch called the B1 Band, is introducing a new high-quality wristwatch that combines key elements of a health monitor, including step-counting and more accurate heart-rate tracking, with some features of a smartwatch, like phone notifications.

      The new Peak watch is made of anodized aluminum and Gorilla Glass 3, and comes in two models — matte black and brushed silver. It has a touchscreen display, unlike the B1 Band, which has four tiny touchpoints along the face of the watch for toggling through display options.

      Basis Peak

      The Peak also has a faster processor and an improved optical heart rate sensor. The previous B1 Band has an optical heart rate sensor, which infers your heart rate by shining light through your blood and capturing minute changes in the blood flow, but in my experience with the B1, the continuous heart-rate tracking wasn’t always accurate. Basis’s general manager Jef Holove says the optical heart rate sensor on the new Peak should be powerful enough to replace a heart-rate chest strap.

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  7. People trust Apple, When people trust your brand, they will continue to support it. Apple has extremely loyal customers. Even when people venture off to try other things, they eventually come right back to Apple, their first love. Sure, you may try an Android or Samsung device for a while as place fillers due to Apple’s immediate limitations but once Apple delivers, you’ll go back.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  8. i think that our generation is becoming to attached to there technology that its hard for them to keep away from technology for a few minutes i think that its a crisis because the more technology advances the less time people spend outside the less time people spend interacting with each other this is why i think this is such a bad thing but it is also good because it helps us with our every day things

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    1. Provide FACTS about a RELEVANT tech topic TODAY. Then discuss your opinion about it. Do over please

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  9. I feel that in today's society many kids are become more tech savvy, which is both good and bad. I know from experience that many of my friends spend 50+ hours a week online, and that excludes any school work. With kids having or building their own personal devices and computers, that they have full access to, they can get distracted and lose focus, especially with so many games on the market. It is also a very good things because there will be many more people going into the field, and furthering our technology, which in itself is good and bad. I think that the benefits far outway the negatives of kids having so much access to unrestricted technology, and many times, they even fully outway the drawbacks.

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    1. Need some FACTS that you found. Then discuss your thoughts relative to it.

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    2. According to ikeepsafe.org "kids ages 8 to 18 [are] spending on average 44.5 hours per week in front of screens" in 2014 which is much higher than in the past 7 and a half hours on average in 2010 (http://articles.latimes.com/). As we can clearly observe technology has been changing rapidly, with many new concepts coming from kids. Although we arent all old enough to get a stereotypical job, many of the kids of today have made a few bucks providing tech support online or developing games and programs for individual use.

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    3. As cited from ikeepsafe.org "kids ages 8 to 18 [are] spending on average 44.5 hours per week in front of screens" in 2014 which is much higher than in the past 7 and a half hours on average in 2010" (http://articles.latimes.com/). I do agree with this fact kids my age really do spend a huge amount of time of our lives looking at screens. This substantial amount of screen time can be helpful and not good at all. If you feel the need to spend so much time on your phone or laptop, try and go outside or work on something beneficial. I know I have avoided work and decently procrastinated on my phone. I dilly dally on my phone a lot more than I believe I actually talk and or use it for its conical purposes. In experience I went a mouth without my phone. In this time period I got more social, overall making me more positive. Yes sometimes it was inconvenient and hard to contact people. It was a a good break. It has made me more responsible with my time with school, and family. The growing expansion on technology is great for tech fields and certain career. We need to find a balance of what is expectable in the realm of a healthy amount of screen. Maybe even, snap out of the day to day routine in our connection to the world in our palms.

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  10. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Provide FACTS about a RELEVANT tech topic TODAY. Then discuss your opinion about it. Do over please

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  11. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. Provide FACTS about a RELEVANT tech topic TODAY. Then discuss your opinion about it. Do over please... actually if you want to discuss this realm... Look up Technological Singularity and discuss what information you found.

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  12. We're in a technological golden age where we are prospering at a rapid rate and advancing without fail or a break. I personally feel that if we were to inspect certain past techs closer and see if there's advancements to those types of techs before we create new ones, we might be able to get a new and improved way of seeing things. Kind of like how certain scientists reverse engineer foreign objects and techs to understand the mechanisms and the ways that they work.

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  13. The technology has been extremely advancing we barely have time to keep up with the later technology we get because six months later the new generation of phones and computers has already been released. Billion-dollar companies are selling out because the new stuff that is added to their products are tiny changes. Take the iPhone 6 for example, the iPhone 6 has only been changed by adding small new features that could've been downloaded and a bigger screen for double amount of money that it did for the iPhone 5. Apple has been releasing new products that Samsung has been working on for years on end, and it's only getting bigger. Eventually we'll all be holding holograms and Skype will release a "Star Wars" themed holographic device that we will all hold into our hands, and nobody would be outside anymore.

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    1. Where did you get these facts? Or is this whole article about what you think?

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  14. Alex Canez: China has developed a better laser anti air weapon for air to ground missiles or unmanned drones, soon I suspect that this new weaponry will be integrated into Americas arsenal and help defend against any terrorist threat or foreign enemy.
    Cheyne: This new weapon that has recently been invented is a very dangerous.The weapon can zap targets within a radius of 1.2 miles. Its designers at the China Academy of Engineering Physics, a government defense agency, believe the machine can spot a drone and shoot it down just five seconds later.
    Chris: This drone is widely available Which is a bad idea because of the terrorist threat and the future plans of this is to put it on the back of truks which is a bad idea because if it stolen then the weapon is lost.

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    1. ALEX CANEZ: If this technology progresses it wont be long until some of the planets military's will start to STARWARS it up in here. Some of the United States naval ships have already integrated laser type weapons for the defense against aerial threats. Many companies and colleges are working around the clock to improve laser weapons systems. I hope it doesn't get to the point where we have giant laser cannons in space and every country is threatening to decimate other countries. That would just replace the nukes with lasers.

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  15. I worked together with Milo Fenn and Parker Brown

    A South Korean company has created what they believe to be the world’s first “smart toy”. The device is a stuffed animal based on a character from an extremely popular Korean children’s tv show. The yellow mole is equipped with a built in microphone and speaker allowing for parents to speak to their children through their toys. While many people believe this may be creepy, the creators believe that it will bring about a new age of parenting, putting technology to use. Through their smartphones, parents are able to record messages that the toy will then modify in order to appear as if the character itself was talking to the child. The device is also able to allow parents to speak to their children live, with them able to hear their children speaking back to them. The creators believe that children are more likely to listen to their imaginary friends than they are their parents. Through the use of the device parents can convince their children to do their chores as well as have a new way to engage their child.

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  16. dark souls 2
    Stephen: I think that games like dark souls 2 are very fun, and should a more common thing for people to play.
    it is a very fun and pretty addictive. So far iv'e put over 70 hours into it from just two weeks. I do not believe that there i going to be a third but later in 2015 a game made by the same developers is coming out exclusively for ps4.

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    1. jason: believes that it is a challenging game, but also says that it is a very unique game. compares to skyrim in some aspects. although not totally. This role playing type game is very fun to speed run and re-create characters, to be continued...

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    2. Jason also said that it is really cool that people can break world records for fastest time on beating the game. Also that they can remember all the enemies throughout the game.

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  17. 1. Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency featuring a Shiba Inu from the "Doge" Internet meme on its logo. It was introduced on December 8, 2013. Compared to other cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin has a fast initial coin production schedule: there will be approximately 100 billion coins in circulation by the end of 2014 with an additional 5.2 billion coins every year thereafter. As of 10 October 2014, over 94 billion Dogecoins have been mined. While there are few mainstream commercial applications, the currency has gained traction as an Internet tipping system, in which social media users grant Dogecoin tips to other users for providing interesting or noteworthy content.

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    1. such currency
      very price
      wow
      so digital
      much coin

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  18. Ok lets talk about the subject of the Iphone 6, the new Galaxy, and pretty much every new phone. When cell phones first came out they were quite large. We spent years making them smaller, more efficient, and powerful. Nowadays, we are trying to make them as obnoxiously big as we can. I have a friend in autos who's phone actually can't fit in their pocket. They have to keep it in their bag. Why are phones so big? I mean, I can understand having a larger phone because it can fit better hardware, but just yesterday I saw a commercial for the new Iphone (gigantic) and the Iphone 6 plus (Godzilla-sized phone) where they were literally bragging about how big the phone is. I am a fan of the Iphone and I will probably end up buying it but why do the phones have to be getting bigger and bigger? Why not find a size thats not too big yet not small, and stick to it?

    Anyways.... What are yall's thoughts on this?

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  19. Cheyne: This new weapon that has recently been invented is a very dangerous.The weapon can zap targets within a radius of 1.2 miles. Its designers at the China Academy of Engineering Physics, a government defense agency, believe the machine can spot a drone and shoot it down just five seconds later. this drone armed with a taser, is gaining a lot of interest from military and law enforcement agencies. It is called the ‘Cupid Drone’ and was developed at Chaotic Moon Studios. The newly developed Chaotic Unmanned Personal Intercept Drone can shoot 80-thousand volts of electricity into a subject.

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    1. Personally i think that this weapon can be very helpful but if u think about it it can be very scary. helpful in the way that it can basically do a police mans job, but scary in the way that if hacked or many reproduced by a owner that is not particularly good then crazy things could happen

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  20. The controversy over drones has arisen as technology has grown more advanced. They can be used for good, such as surveying land or herding livestock, but also for spying. One such future use is drones for paparazzi. As paparazzi are known for their willingness to take photos at whatever the cost, this advancement will further reduce celebrity’s privacy. However, there are many good uses. Some of these uses include studying the ozone layer, monitoring traffic, real estate photography, and watching endangered species. Even though there are many people who immediately My personal opinion is that drones are a useful tool. They will bring us into the future, allowing us to do things we could never do before.

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  21. NASA's "spaceplane" the X-33 could be put back into development after they abandoned it in march.If completed it would be the first space capable bomber and the only one in existence.It has cost NASA 900 million USD to get it to 85 percent completion.This new bomber would surpass the capabilities of the B-2 nuclear stealth bomber which takes hours to reach its target,the x-33 only takes 90 minutes and flies at an untouchable 60 miles above the ground.The aim of this plane would be to strike with precision,speed and untouchability.Many fear of a new arms race but the pentagon has confirmed that the plane is sub-orbital and only hits targets in earth(DUH!).

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  22. China is currently experimenting with a better taser anti tech weapon for air to ground missiles or advanced drones, I am suspecting an update to Americas arsenal or a step up in the preexisting weapons. This new weapon that has recently been invented and has a very dangerous potential and could also be a useful scouting drone by the way it is designed.The weapon can zap targets within a radius of 1.2 miles which is just mindbogglingly far to me. Its designers at the China Academy of Engineering Physics, a government defense agency, believe the machine can spot a drone and shoot it down just five seconds later. This drone is widely available which is a very bad idea because of the current terrorist threat and the future plans of this is to put it on the back of trucks which is a bad idea because if it stolen then the weapon is lost and could fall into the wrong hands within hours of being stolen and with its immense range it could be lethal and very good good for sabotage. So this tech should be guarded closely and watched with the utmost care at least for the moment, while the terrorists are so prevalent.

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  23. Cody and Jordan - 1. #E-sports, get your head in the game. E-sports, or electronic sports meaning sports played online mostly. E-sports is getting bigger everyday with online leagues and competitions for money. Professional gamers gain sponsorship and recognition for their abilities, many of these pros make a living off of gaining alone. Being a professional gamer has only a certain time block of success, the optimal years for professional gamers to hit their peak are from the ages 20-25. While e-sports have a small effect on American media, in other cultures such as South Korea, competitive gaming is a national pastime. However, in recent years, the e-sports community has grown rapidly in North America and the number of people participating these events are skyrocketing at breakneck speeds. The current home of gaming media is Twitch.tv, offering live-streaming service dedicated to gaming. Maybe thats why Amazon bought Twitch for over 1 billion dollars.

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  24. This assignment was completed in joint with Majora’s Mask.

    The most abominable and abysmal piece of gaming technology ever released to the public is the X-box Kinect. when players first unboxed the set-up, they were met with horrific motion tracking issues, making a large variety of games buggy and often times totally unplayable.
    Since the release of the Kinect 2.0, little to no improvement has been accomplished. It’s library included such great games including iPhone games that cost approximately 5 times more than they do in the app store. Also included in the Kinect library, is a plethora of Wii Sports rip-offs, as well as ambitious game titles that don’t function. The only games that are possibly worth purchasing are a wide assortment of dancing games.
    To prove the atrocity that is the Kinect 2.0, one needs only to witness the launch title, Fighter Within. This game received a score of 2.7 out of 10 on IGN, with a rating of “painful.” One infuriated Metacritic reviewer complained, “This is literally a waste of money. Do something useful with that cash instead.” The Gamespot review gave Fighter Within a 2 out of 10 with a rating of terrible.
    The Kinect was a failure of a gaming device when it was first released and all attempts to improve the machine have moved it in the opposite direction. The Kinect’s infamy rivals that of the Virtual Boy, along with the Philips CD-i.

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  25. One thing that might be interesting would be how video games are starting to affect more and more people’s lives for better or worse. It has been commonly said that video games are bad for people, for various reasons such as making your eyesight worse, making a person’s attention span worse, and other different reasons, however, in one TED Talk I watched quite a while ago, the speaker Daphne Bavelier showed that in some cases, people who play video games have even better eyesight than people that don’t, and that people that game often have an easier time paying attention to things. These statements are interesting because gaming is becoming a much greater part into people’s lives, and now we are discovering that it can actually help a person in life, instead of people thinking they did nothing good and worse things to you, along with saying that they are wastes of time.

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  26. Most consumers only can name operating systems from Microsoft or Apple, often looking over the hidden gems that have been brought up from the community. Open-source operating systems are overlooked in the eyes of the industry, but fit in perfectly on any computer. The most well known systems are the various developments of Linux, like Ubuntu and Debian. Linux based systems allow you to customize everything to fit your needs, from a work environment to an everyday leisure design. They can accomplish anything when set up properly, including running programs from other operating systems. Since they are open source, its only a toolbox towards your own system. It may start out as a Linux system, but its outcome would be entirely yours to decide, without dealing with any of the limitations found in Microsoft or Apple systems. Everybody should at least try Linux before you decide you don't like it, you may even find it replacing your current operating system because of how great it is.

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  27. So you wake up in the morning, and you got to get to work or school. So you do the daily routine, get in the car, look at google maps, click on the place you want to go and you're off. Bam baby, welcome to the future! Now, autonomous cars (car that will basically drive themselves) is an exciting idea, right? Well, it uses GPS as it's source of telling where to go. And...well let's just stop right there. The world doesn't stay the same, and it never will. There could be an old lady trying to cross the street, and the car's going about 40. Now that's a lawsuit. Not only that, but traffic lights or other other cars won't all be in sync either. Even assuming they are, not everyone is going to have an autonomous car. When people drive, they make social interactions with each other. An established eye contact with someone, or the hand of approval for someone to pass by. Our technology right now isn't capable of that at the moment. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure it will in the next decade, but let's not expect anything like this next year. This definitely is a step in the right direction for safer roads, though, it may take some time.

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    1. Autonomous cars: well laziness is what these cars are made to support. Now hover cars/crafts is an even bigger topic, and these will start being made right after the autonomous cars are out. Mixing those two together u get a hover car, my logic is 1. self driving car 2. hover technology/board, these two will make a car that hovers and moves on it's own. Now u could just have a hover board going into a hover car, but hover boards should fly just by leaning forward or something like that. So thats why a hover car would need autonomous technology in it as well.

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  28. Apple and galaxy are today's phone companies in my opinion. But I believe samsung is better then apple because it seems like everyone has an iphone today. I believe that apple is overrated It is what everyone else has so why would you not want it. Today best phones for both companies is the samsung galaxy s4 and the iphone 6. These two phones are the best on the market today.

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  29. Google is one of the most trusted and used web engines in the world.It's used for emailing, presentations and documents, they even started their own form of social media called google+.It can always find what your looking for and has answers to alot of questions people ask.Schools all around the ubited states use google because its convient and easy to use to stay in contact with your teachers if you need help.

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  30. "Who owns space" this sounds like a really stupid question to ask but as technology advances its becoming more of an issue.Planetary Resources is a company owned by (among others) James Cameron and Larry Page. They want to mine astroids once the technology is perfected but the question is, is it legal. Because there is no owned area in space so anyone could just go up there and claim a part of space as their own but then it could be invaded and that could cause a war or something like it. I am all for people going into space and expanding our reach but this kind of stuff that puts barriers in the way are just barriers on the advancement of technology.

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  31. Kerbal space program is the closest game to real space exploration. This is amazing for learning to calculate and command missions around the kerbal system. Also this game is a great way to see what it is like in a real space program like NASA. A fact for this game is there is has over 100 parts which gives you amazing capabilities and has mod support with a crazy amount of mods. This is a game that has the closest thing to being in real life. Some of the parts are taken from NASA with very similar setup.

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  32. Technology has improved our health, our education, transportation, communication, and much much more. Cell phones have made it possible to contact someone within seconds across the globe, and computers have helped with medical research, and the ability to access huge amounts of information. My point is technology has had a big impact on peoples lives, a good one. For example Google has done so much with current technology, it has created a massive search engine, emailing, and you can easily make documents and web pages which is extremely useful for schools and businesses. Technology will just keep advancing.

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  33. technology is advancing so rapidly that us as humans are all trying to catch up like getting cell phones laptops tablets or gaming consoles technology is moving so rapidly there is a new cell phone model every 6 months and a new video game every 3 months i know it doesn't seem like a lot but it truly is i mean why do we have a need to get the new iPhone every time it comes out if our phone we already have works perfectly fine that's a question a lot of kids and parents have

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